Capital Beat

After months of relentless campaigning by candidates for federal and statewide office, the primary is finally here. This Tuesday, voters will choose Republican nominees for Congress, governor and a number of state Senate races, and Democrats will pick a candidate in the state Senate district made up of Concord, Henniker, Hopkinton and Warner. You can expect political activity to ramp …

We knew the race between Jeanne Shaheen and Scott Brown would get nasty. It did so as soon as Brown entered the race and has only worsened in the months since. But that’s not the only race where the mudslinging is in full force. With less than two weeks to go until the Sept. 9 primary, federal and state level races across New …

Actions speak a whole lot louder than words when it comes to presidential politics. With the midterm election still 86 days a way, no politician – Republican or Democrat – is foolish enough to overtly say he or she is running for president. But look around New Hampshire, and it’s clear a number …

6:31 p.m.: The House endorsed a bill, 173-118, raising the state’s minimum wage to $8.25 an hour in 2015 and higher in following years. “What we’re doing here is having the possibility of providing an umbrella for the most marginal, working poor groups,” said Rep. Chuck Weed, a …

Despite weeks of attacks from conservative groups and local Republican committees, Senate President Chuck Morse and Majority Leader Jeb Bradley came out of this week’s Medicaid expansion vote relatively unscathed. Seven of 12 Republicans (Sen. Peter Bragdon recused himself due to a conflict of interest with his employer, …

A Medicaid expansion plan under way in the Senate is a “gateway drug to socialism in the Granite State” and will create a “whole new class of Obamacare victim.” A gas tax increase would “punish working families” and force them to pay more at the pump “simply because …

Listen to some lefties, and you’ll hear that Wednesday’s vote to eventually kill a gun background checks bill was the result of Republican trickery that doesn’t reflect the Legislature’s true support for background checks. Listen to people from the right, and you’ll hear that the vote of 242-118 …

The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee endorsed a bill to repeal the death penalty in a 14-3 vote yesterday, with a handful of members who have previously opposed repeal changing their minds. Among them was Majority Leader Steve Shurtleff, a Penacook Democrat and retired U.S. marshal, …

Anita Mendes keeps her house at 62 degrees in the winter. She tailors her own clothes so she doesn’t have to buy more and eats often at community dinners, helping clean up afterward to show her gratitude. She …

Unfavorable polling for Obamacare and actions taken by New Hampshire’s congressional Democrats last week to fix it underscore Democrats’ continued complicated relationship with the health care law heading into election season. Republicans will do their best to make sure this doesn’t change anytime soon. First District Rep. Carol …

The early afternoon announcement of a bipartisan Senate agreement on Medicaid expansion was perfect timing for Gov. Maggie Hassan, giving a boost to her push for expanding access to health care for 50,000 residents in her State of …

Three siblings of the late Republican executive councilor Ray Burton have put their support behind Democrat Mike Cryans to fill the now-empty District 1 seat. “I cannot think of a more qualified individual to fill his seat than …

With a Friday night deadline looming for federal campaign fundraising reports, Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen sent a last-minute pitch to supporters seeking donations for her re-election campaign. “With Massachusetts’s Scott Brown preparing to get in the race, we won’t be ready unless we raise $64,000 by midnight,” …

New Hampshire’s Republicans finally have a name to top their ticket come November: Andrew Hemingway. Hemingway, a 31-year-old entrepreneur and political activist, announced his candidacy to challenge Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, at the Yard restaurant in Manchester …

If Dunbarton Rep. JR Hoell has his way, no New Hampshire community will face the same BearCat controversy that overtook Concord last fall. That’s because, under a bill he’s introduced, towns and cities statewide would be prohibited from …